Multi-zone air conditioning unit



July 14, 1959 J, R, DAvls 2,894,728

MULTI-ZONE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT @MY my July 14, 1959 J. R. DAVIS2,894,728

MULTI-ZONE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed Feb. 6, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 o I00 l0 0 I* l 000 Il l 42 0o li l 0 Il I 36 24 35 /2 22 24|| i /4 -3+||F' 3. 72 l S JNVENToR.

JAMES R. DAVIS Bil/Mv ATTORNEYS Muur-ZONE AIR CONDITIONING .lames Davis,La Crosse, Wis., assigner to The Trane Company, La Crosse, Wis., acorporation of Wisconsin Application February 6, 1957, Serial No.638,497 s claims. (C1. 257-.-9)

This invention relates vto air conditioning units and more particularlyto air conditioning units having a heating coil, a cooling coil, dampersfor varying the amount of heated and cooled air passing through each ofa plurality of outlet openings and a fan for moving air through theunit.

It is an object of this invention to provide an arrangement of the fan,coils, and passageways which will eiectively divide the air into twoseparate streams so that the mixing of air from 'one stream to anotheris substantially eliminated regardless of the position of the dampers.Mixing of the two streams of air with a resulting loss in capacity andcontrol has been a problem with prior umts of this type. In prior unitswhen the dampers were positioned for 100% cold air the effect of theheating coil -would reduce the cooling capacity as much as to l0percent.

It is another object of the invention to provide a fan Iwhich is easilymanufactured and assembled in the unit and which is particularly adaptedto cooperate with the other elements of the unit in accomplishing thefunction 'of the unit.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe specilication proceeds to describe the invention with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of the outlet side of the unit of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the unit with portions of thecasing broken away to show the interior construction;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view with portions of the casing broken away toshow the interior construction.

Referring now to the drawings, the unit has a damper section 10, a coilsection 12, and a fan section 14. The sections 10, 12, and 14 fastenedtogether in any suitable manner as by bolts not shown.

A cross-how fan wheel 22 having forwardly curved blades 24 is secured toa shaft 26 which is suitably supported in bearings at the ends of theunit and rotatably driven from a motor 28 through a motor pulley 30 anda belt 32. The fan wheels 22 have a plurality of spaced hub plates 33for supporting the fan wheel 22 on the shaft 26 along its length. Airenters the fan wheel 22 through an opening 35 in the fan section 14. Theair is discharged from the fan wheel 22 between the block-Otis 34 and36. Block-offs 34 and 36 define the discharge area and prevent reverseflow of air from the discharge side to the inlet side of the fan wheel22. A divider 38 extends from end to end of the fan section 14 and fromthe coil section 12 to close proximity with respect to the fan wheel 22to divide the air discharged from the fan Wheel 22 into two separatestreams one of which Hows through the heating coil 40 and the other ofwhich flows through the cooling coil 42.

The damper section has a wall 46 for separating the two air streams. Apair of spaced channels 48 and 50 extend from end to end of the dampersection 10 and nitcd States Patent F 2,894,728 Patented July 14, 1959ICC channels 52 and 54 extend across the ends of channels 48 and 50 toform therewith a rectangular opening. A plurality of zone partitions 56divide the opening dened by channels 4 8, 50, 52 and 54 into a pluralityof zone open` ings. Shafts S8 are pivotally mounted in channels 48.

stance starting at the left in Figure 1, the rst two zone'I openingshave their dampers arranged for connection ofv one zone duct, and thenext three zone openings have their dampers arranged for connection of asecond zone duct. The dampers which serve each zone duct areconnected ina common and well known manner by suitable cranks and links to one ofdamper motors 64 as is clearly shown in Figure 1.

Secured to each end of the unit is a condensate shield 66 which has itslower end extending into a condensate drain cup 68. The condensatevwhich drips from theends of the cooling coil 42 is conducted by thecondensate shield 66 into the condensate drain cup 68. Eachl drain cup68 has a trap drain pipe 70 which conductsV con- Although a unit havingone fan has been shown'gtanddescribed, it should be understood thatunits having more than one fan are contemplated. While we have describedpreferred embodiments of our invention, we contemplate that many changesmay be made without departing from the scope or spirit of our inventionand we desire to be limited only by the claims.

I claim:

l. An air conditioning unit comprising a rectangular casing, one end ofsaid casing having a longitudinal rectangular inlet opening extendingsubstantially the entire length of said one end of said casing, across-How fan wheel in said casing, means rotatably mounting saidcross-ow fan wheel on said casing, said cross-ow fan wheel having itslength greater than its diameter and being positioned adjacent the inletopening in said one end of said casing and having its major axisextending substantially the entire length of the inlet opening, a firstblock-oit member secured to said casing and extending inwardly from oneside of Said inlet opening and surrounding a portion only of theperiphery of said crossow fan Wheel along substantially its entirelength, a second block-cti member secured to said casing and extendinginwardly from the other side of the inlet opening and surrounding asecond portion of the periphery of said cross-flow fan wheel alongsubstantially its entire length, a partition secured to said casing andextending between the sides of said casing to form with said casing twoair passageways, said partition extending substantially to the peripheryof said cross-dow fan wheel at a portion of the periphery between andspaced from said first and said second block-ott members to divide theair delivered from said cross-How fan into two streams, a heating coilSecured to said casing and being positioned in one of said passagewaysand a cooling coil secured to said casing and being positioned in theother of said passageways.

2. An air conditioning unit comprising a rectangular casing, one end ofsaid casing having a longitudinal rectangular inlet opening, a cross-Howfan 'wheel in said casing, means rotatably mounting said cross-How fanlwheel on said casing, said cross-How fan wheel having its lengthgreater than its diameter and being positioned adjacent the longitudinalrectangular inlet opening in said one end of said casing with the majoraxis of said crossflow fan wheel substantially parallel to the majoraxis of the longitudinal rectangular inlet opening, a first blockoffmember Secured to said casing and extending inwardly from one side ofsaid inlet opening and surrounding a portion only of the periphery ofsaid cross-ow'fan wheel along substantially its entire length, a secondblock-oit member secured to said casing and extending inwardly from theother Side of the inlet opening and surrounding a. second portion of theperiphery of said cross-dow fan wheel along Substantially its entirelength, a partition secured to said casing and extending between thesides of said casing to form With said casing'two air passageways, saidpartition extending between the sides of said casing to form with saidcasing two air passageways, said partition extending substantially tothe periphery of said crossow fan wheel at a portion of the peripherybetween and spaced from said first and said second block-off members todivide the air delivered trorn said crossilow fan into tWo streams, aheating coil secured to said casing and being positioned in one of saidpassageways, a cooling coil secured to said casing and being positionedin the other of said passageways, and dampers adjustably mounted in saidcasing in both of said passageways, and means for adjustably positioningsaid dampers to vary the volume rates of air tlow through each of saidpassageways.

3. An air Conditioning unit comprising a rectangular casing, one end ofsaid casing having a longitudinal rectangular inlet opening, across-flow fan wheel in said casing, means rotatably mounting saidcross-flow fan wheel on said casing, said cross-flow fan Wheel beingpositioned adjacent the inlet opening with its axis of rotation parallelto the plane of said inlet opening, a

first blocko member secured to said casing and extending inwardly fromone longitudinal side of said inlet opening and surrounding a portiononly of the periphery of said cross-ow fan wheel along substantially itsentire length, a second block-oft member secured to said casing andextending inwardly from the other longitudinal side of said inletopening and surrounding a second portion of the periphery of saidcross-flow fan Iwheel along substantially its entire length, said rstblock-oi member and said Second block-oit member each having a vaneportion extending outwardly with respect to the `crossow fan wheel toguide the air discharged from said cross-W fan wheel, a partitionsecured to said casing and extending between the sides of said casing tofarm with said casing two air passageways, said partition extendingsubstantially to the periphery of said cross-flow fan wheel, saidpartition being between and spaced from the vane portions of said firstand second block-erts, said partition being inclined with respect to thevane portions of said iirst and second block-ofic members to providediverging discharge ducts, a heating :coil secured to said casing andbeing positioned in one of said passageways and a cooling coil securedto said casing and being positioned in lthe other of said passageways.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,001,834 Carson May 21, 1935 2,093,306 Carson Sept. 14, 1937 2,238,688Guler Apr. 15, 1941 2,292,335 Durbin Aug. 4, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS394,589 France Ian, 27, 1909

